Wild Coast Shark Fishing Competition 2011
The Transkei coastline offers excellent rock & surf angling, so we have pursued where others have left off. We are now organizing an angling competition on our wild coast. This is a new event which we hope will grow as it has great potential as this area is one of the top angling sites along our coastline for edibles and non edibles.

When: 26 & 27^th March 2011
Where: Mthatha Mouth to Mbolompu Point
Entrance Fee: R200.00
Prizes: R10 000 for heaviest shark
R2 500 for heaviest edible
Times: Saturday 6 am – 6 pm
Sunday 5 am – 11 am

Accommodation:

Mapuzi – unfortunately there are no facilities there except a place to pitch your tent. You will even need to bring your own water. There are surrounding areas with accommodation facilities though. We do need all entrants who want to use their vehicles to travel to the different fishing spots to pay 2 weeks before the time so that the necessary permits can be arranged.

So far the prizes are as follows:

Heaviest Shark – R10 000
Heaviest Edible Fish – R2 500

All fish/shark landed must be returned alive to be eligible for any prizes and anglers will be encouraged not to remove any fish. We will be involving the different communities in the different areas for security and to clean up the coastline while we are fishing.
As there are only 3 of us organizing the competition, all the numbers are listed below.

Yours in Angling

Bobby Nel – 079 272 0650
Shaun Horsfield – 083 468 1645
Berni Horsfield – 083 279 0495

email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

or fax number 047 5319049

The first Border Blacktips RASSPL will take place on 29th January 2011 at Winterstrand. Tickets are on sale now at Bilimoria in Beacon Bay, Target Line and TJ’s Bait & Tackle. CLICK ON POSTER TO ENLARGE.

Venue: Winterstrand Recreational Club

Time: Start at 06:00 lines up at 14:00 and weigh cards in by 15:30

Prize giving will take place as soon as the results are totalled at Winterstrand Recreational Club

IMPORTANT:

1. Either fill in all your details on the form provided when you purchase your ticket or fill them in here http://www.rasspl.com/?page_id=84 so that you are in the database. This will save you from having to fill the forms in on the morning. You only have to fill this in once.

On the morning you will just need to go to registration table so we can tick off that you have attended.

2. You don’t have to fish all 8 leagues in the year but if you want to be in the top 30 to fish the Final/National then it will be to your benefit to try and do so.

Nigel Louw
0736902606

               CHALLENGERS ANGLING CLUB
                              PRESENTS

                       A GRAND OVERNIGHT BANK ANGLING OPEN COMPETITION

                                                             AT CHELMSFORD DAM,NEWCASTLE

                                                                    ON 05/06/MARCH 2011 

PRIZES  

CARP 
1ST .R10 000
2ND R4000
3RD R1000

BARBEL
1ST.R3000
2ND.R1500
3RD .R500. 

                            ENTERANCE FEE --- R120 PER ANGLER EXCLUDING GATE FEES

VARIOUS OTHER PRIZES IN EACH CATERGORY UP FOR GRABS(20 SCALE-10 NON SCALE)

PRIZE S  CONSIST OF HOUSEHOLD  APPLIANCES, CELL PHONES, FISHING TACKLE, GIFT VOUCHERS,   OUTDOOR                                                            ACCESORIES,ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT AND MANY MORE SUPRISES

                                                        PRIZES FOR LUCK Y DRAWS TO BE WON

GENERAL RULES

                                          *Fishing starts on 05^TH MARCH  at 09:00 and Weigh in at 12 noon on 6^TH MARCH

                                         *Competition area is from Sandford Camping Area Gate to Zone E in Sandford (Islands).                                                                                            

                                          *Queuing starts  FROM THE MAIN GATE

         All vehicles and tackle subject to search

                               110 CC MOTORBIKE TO BE GIVEN AWAY AT OUR RAFFFLE TICKET DRAW

                                                                     (SPONORED BY ITHEMBA RACING)

BIGGEST EVER CASH PRIZE COMPETITION AT CHELMSFORD DAM NEWCASTLE

                 FOR MORE INFO AND TICKET SALES CONTACT : SHABIR ISMAIL- 0847862223, MOHAMMED SHEIK -0828569751,SULIEMAN LIMBADA-0832788266, LALLA BIKRAMJITH-078515310

SLMZ MUSTAQ .THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW ABOUT TIS WEBSITE. IM HOOKED

Pop-Ups

This is easily achieved by hand rolling some of your mixture around cork balls. Then cook and store as normal. Don't forget to keep them separately or you wont know which is which when you come to use them. Some anglers make their pop-ups bigger so that they can tell them apart.

Hint. - Always keep a log of the boilies that you make, and always use the same size eggs. This way, to repeat a successful recipe or refine a not so good one, you will be able to look up exactly what you did last time you made it.

Remember - Too much flavour is a waste of boilie mixture. It won't help you catch but will have the opposite effect and scare the carp off.

Have fun and go give those carp a gourmet meal.

2 egg mix

This recipe is simple and had a good bite response on it’s very first outing including a 22 pounder from the Chicago River. I use the small 13 ounce coffee can and the measurements don’t have to be exact. - 1/2 coffee can of cooked feed corn that has been ground in a food processor* - 1/2 coffee can of Frosted Oat Cereal that has been powdered in a food processor - 1/6 coffee can of semolina flour - 2 eggs - enough water or milk to make paste (1 or 2 tablespoons) - 4 tablespoons of canola oil Mix all ingredients together to make a thick paste, but solid enough to handle. Let the dough ball rest for around 10 to 15 minutes. Add a little more moisture if you need it. If dough is too wet add the flour - cornmeal mixture to stiffen it up. Roll into sausages and then into balls and boil for around 4 minutes. Spray over with flavor and dry over night or prepare flavor bath (small amount of flavor, sweetener, and color with enough water to cover the baits) and soak over night. * Be careful with the food processor, already burned up one. Tommy Riley, CCC Editor

Birdseed Boilie Mix

This has also caught on the river. I tipped the boilie with corn and popped it up. It actually is like a particle boilie and it had a lot action even on the first outing. - 1/2 coffee can* of cooked feed corn ground in a food processor - 1/2 coffee can of Frosted Oat Puffs ground in a food processor - 1/4 coffee can of birdseed Ground to a flour - 1/2 cup of powdered milk - 1/6 coffee can of semolina flour - 2 eggs - enough water or milk to make a paste (1 or 2 tablespoons) - 4 tablespoons of canola oil Mix all ingredients together to make a thick paste, but solid enough to handle. Let the dough ball rest for around 10 to 15 minutes. Add a little more moisture if you need it. If dough is too wet add the flour to stiffen it up. Roll into sausages and with a boilie roller, roll into balls and boil for around 4 minutes. They may not float when done. Air dry on a screen rack. Spray over with flavor or prepare flavor bath (small amount of flavor, sweetener and color) and soak over night. My favorite flavor bath for this one is: Richworth's aniseed, Hutchinson's intense sweet and yellow food color with enough water to cover the baits. *I use the small, 13 ounce coffee can and my measurements are never exact. Tommy Riley, CCC Editor

River Boilie Mix

This simple basic recipe works well in rivers or lakes and is simple and easy to make. It is easy to add more or less flavor. I like strawberry or almost any fruti flavor, the flavors can be Koolaide, cake flavors or even specailly made European style carp bait flavors. Equal parts corn meal, semolina and soy flour Enough eggs to make it into a dough Any bait flavor including Koolaide, cake flavors or carp bait flavors, just enough to be able to smell it in the dough A little artificial sweetner like Equal A few drops of food coloring 1/4 tablespoon of vegetable oil for each egg Mix eggs, flavor, sweetner and food coloring. Add premixed flour to make a stiff dough. Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes. Roll into sausages and roll into balls or flatten to about 1/2 inch thick and cut into cubes. Boil for about 1 - 2 minutes depending on how big the balls are, about 2 minutes for 20mm boilies, less for smaller ones. Remember to write down everything in your recipe!! If you catch a BFC you will want to be able to recreate your bait again

How to tell the difference between a male and female carp?

if you lay the fish down,check the front bottom fins..

a females fin would be round

a males fin would be sharp

I'll see if i can find some photos to share

Many of the anglers I have met lately seem to avoid fishing in weed, they often prefer to find the clear patches and present a bait. However, I think they’re losing out on some big carp catches as fishing in weed will generally produce more big fish than any other fishing situation. Carp love weed and will happily spend most of their time in the green stuff. Weed contains tons of natural food items for carp to eat, such as numerous tiny insects. It also provides some shelter and security for many targeted fish. During the day, weed will provide fish with plenty of oxygen, and as a result, carp will often be located in weed. As the weed provides carp with so many benefits, as well as being a big obstacle for anglers to fish, it’s no wander that they are less cagey when feeding on baits in the weed beds.

When fishing on gravel or a clear patch in between weed, the end tackle, and especially the main line can show up like a sore thumb. This is because the line will have to come through the weed beds awkwardly, and often it comes out at acute angles, which clearly exposes the line for the carp to see. The line is often tight because the weed strands catch it as the weight of the lead falls down onto the clear patch. If you happen to solve this problem by finding a much bigger clear patch then the carp may be too cautious to even approach your nicely presented hook bait. The carp may opt to stay in the safety of the thick weed beds. It may seem tricky to fish in the weed itself, but often a bigger risk produces a better reward! When hook baits are presented in the weed, it is much easier for the end tackle and fluorocarbon line to blend in with the surrounding weed so a fish will find it difficult to assess potential danger, and therefore more likely to take your bait.

I wouldn’t fish for carp in the weed during the night. Weed doesn’t provide oxygen in the dark, and as a result, many carp will leave it and probably patrol the margins for food. I always prepare for a different tactic for carp fishing during the night.

Test the Weed Before Setting the Rigs

The trick of fishing for carp in weed is to prepare for how the rig should be designed before casting it into thick weed. It’s not as simple as just placing some rig foam around the hook of any old fishing rig. Effective weed rigs can work much better if you find out more information about the actual weed in front of your swim. Try to find out how high, and how thick, the weed is before tying the rig. This can be done by casting in a heavy lead with a big, blank hook tied on the line, and try to pull out a bunch of weed strands. Roughly measure the average length of the weed. You want to create a rig that will allow the hook bait to sit on top of the weed, so the hook link needs to be slightly longer than the weed strands. This will stop the weight of the lead dragging the bait down further into the weed and causing it to mask around the hook point, as well as hiding the bait from sight.
Also, think about how hard it is to pull the lead back out through the weed bed. The thicker the weed, the more you’ll need to use pop-ups for presenting a hook bait. Plus, you’ll probably need to use more PVA foam to slow down the rigs decent.

Baiting to Catch Carp in Weed

With thick weed, I like to use light particles in a PVA bag so the majority of them rest on top of the weed helping to attract any passing fish. I have also used a pop-up with PVA bagged bottom baits surrounding it. This weed presentation may sound strange, but not many people do this as they believe it’s wrong to have a pop ups over loose bottom baits. However, you’ll be surprised at what you can get away with in weed!
I often use pop-ups for fishing in weed for two main reasons. The buoyancy of the bait helps stop the hook point from digging into the weed itself, and also causes the bait to enter the mouth easier as the carp sucks at it. Also a pop-up won’t fall down and become hidden at the bottom of the weed bed where carp find it difficult to see.

General Carp Rigs for Fishing in Weed

I would tend to use a supple braid over any kind of stiff material when presenting a bait in weed. I believe a stiff link may cause the bait to catch in the weed rather than settle nicely on top. The only consideration is when I use soft supple nylon line, like a fluorocarbon. This is a great line for blending in amongst the weed.
The length of the hook link will depend on the type of weed present. If Canadian pondweed is abundant then I’ll often use smaller hook links if fishing in small clear patches between the weed. This way there’s less chance of the hook catching on any strands of weed as the rig falls through the water. If fishing INTO Canadian pondweed, then I’ll go for a longer hook link of supple material or mono line, but I’ll make sure the hooklink is longer than the weed depth by doing the test explained above. I will also make sure to surround the hook with PVA nuggets so it doesn’t fall heavily on top of weed.
If silkweed is present I’ll generally use longer hook links so the bait will come to rest nicely on top, especially if I use some rig foam to slow its decent. When fishing for carp in weed it is important to keep trying out different presentations until you find something that fools the carp. Do not be afraid to try out new ideas when it comes to hook types, different hook link lengths and materials. If you haven’t received a take for 2 or 3 hours then try a new type of bait presentation. If you know there are carp in the area, then you should be getting action within an hour or less. If this is the case, then you may need a different weed bait presentation immediately.

Safety Rig in Weed

Always tie a safe weed rig that has the ability to give carp a chance to rid the tackle if the line ever snaps. Carp will often attempt to dive into thick weed once hooked, and if the line breaks they can easily become tethered if a lead weight is hanging down from its mouth. I tend to lead clips use  for 90 percent of my weed fishing. I want the lead to fall out when a carp is hooked. This causes a hooked fish to rise to the surface of the water making it much easier to control it over the weed beds and safely into the landing net. I have read about some top carp anglers that prefer to use a helicopter style when fishing in weed. One prefers to set the top bead much further up the line and use this with a short link of 2-3 inches with a pop-up boilie. As the lead sinks through the weed, the link remains on the top of the weed bed presenting the boilie nicely on top of the weed. The benefit of this set up is the lead is away from the hook. However, I feel this is wrong way to fish in weed because when a carp takes the bait, the lead cannot release easily and will get caught up in the clumps of weed. If you can find a way of releasing the lead on the take then it would be worth a try. My idea would be to tie the lead onto the helicopter using very thin line, about 1 or 2 pounds breaking strain. Then enclose the lead in a strong PVA bag with a few food items. This would allow a long cast and the strong PVA bag wouldn’t melt completely until the lead in secure at the bottom of the weed. The light line will then hold the lead secure but would easily break when a fish takes the line quickly. The lead would then be free and the carp can be played easily through the weed bed to land.

Hope you get better results

Charl Hitchcock

I have been fishing my hole life and I've been fishing specimen for over fifteen years

I have found that it's all about location,locating fish is easy if you know what features to look for.

Here are some to locate your bigger size carp:

1 look for grass patches in water

2 check the depth that your fishing(big carp don't always petrol deep water)

3 always fish towards a feature of some sort like logs,grass,rocks,reeds or islands 

4 look for spots where fish are ACTIVE

My favorite specimen bait must be tiger nuts.

I love Nash baits,they are a bit expensive but they really put allot off effort

into preparing there ground and hook baits.

Look out for there Dips,i had great results on Sweet Corn,Grape,peace and banana 

i Hope this will help next time you go out

Tight lines

Charl Hitchcock

Thabiet and his Furniture removal service van will be fishing at Soetdoring very soon. See if you can spot the van.

Hi All A nice social fishing weekend at Rus n bietjie at vaal dam. Arrived on Sat 02.10.10 at 07h00 at Rus n bietjie, not the place one could really enjoy the fishing the sand bank is very small and the place was over booked i spoke to one of the owners during the week and was advised that i did not have to book a place, after speaking to the caretaker on sat morning a very friendly and helpful lady we paid, costs for overnight car 2 adults 2 children under 12 and electricity R150.00 which was a good price,the toilets ladies and gents were not clean and the smell was not better from both toilets, we were taken down to were we were going to be spending the Sat and Sun, the place was small as other people were already angling, we were not directly on the sand and one could not walk in the water to land the fish as the drop was too deep and no place to put the keep net in  the water after deciding that this was not the place we would enjoy a fishing trip we explained to the caretaker and we were refunded our money back and went in search of another angling spot. We found a place called Island shores also on the vaal dam prices were good it cost us R190.00 for the 4 of us for overnight, we were right on the sand clean stands and big they have running water clean toilets and have showers as well, they have a small shop as well, no electricity, we set up camp and started to fish at 9am on sat with in 20min the 1st grass carp was hooked 1.8kg, for the Sat and Sun we landing 27 fish from carps to modderbekkies.
Sharkie

On our weekend trip to the vaalriver i was the only one to catch fish although it was small the men didnt like it alot.

It was 2 1.5 kg modderbekke but it felt awesome :D

Im all smiles

A man called home to his wife and said,

" Honey I have been asked to go fishing up in Canada with my boss & several of his Friends .. We'll be gone for a week. This is a good opportunity for me to get that Promotion I've been wanting, so could you please pack enough Clothes for a week and set out my rod and fishing box, we're Leaving >From the office & I will swing by the house to pick my things up" " Oh! Please pack my new blue silk pyjamas. "

The wife thinks this sounds a bit fishy but being the good wife she is, did exactly what her husband asked. The following Weekend he came home a little tired but otherwise looking good .

The wife welcomed him home and asked if he caught many fish? He said, "Yes! Lots of Salmon, some Bluegill, and a few Swordfish. But why didn't you pack my new blue silk pyjamas like I asked you to Do?" You'll love the answer...

The wife replied, "I did. They're in your fishing box ..." Never Lie To A Woman...!!!

Well done Mushtak

I am very impressed with the website and must thank Mushtak and his team for all the effort they've put into it. I certainly feel that for a beginner like me that i will certainly learn a lot and that also count for others. for a person that is new to angling, i already picked up a fer tips and tricks. 

Good luck

Thabiet

Hi everybody.I am desperately looking for a  GREAT  fishing venue within a 200km radius of Boksburg.ANY venue. Where are the fish?Specifically   carp,barbel,yellow etc.ANY suggestions will be immensely appreciated.Eagerly awaiting your suggestions.

Many thanks.

Regards.

Sad and fishless

MAHOMED.

It's summer and my last fish caught in Lake View " Toronto " pan was in June 2009.  Lets hear from Welkom anglers on their thoughts of this great jet misterious piece of water. Post some of youre pics of fish caught here.

Looking forward to here from all o you.

Tight lines.

The Squirrel

fish 1

large mouth bass

<a href="http://www.ungarn-erholung.de">Szalka in Hungary</a> is a great spot for fishing

Good Day,

 Can anyone tell me what club I can join if I am based on the East Rand? I want to change from a social angler to a club angler.

Pieter

I recently noticed that anglerszone is presently ranked as the 25th most read Sports site in South Africa. The ranking was determined by the Mail & Guardian's Amatomu website aggregation service.

 Granted we are no more than 2 months old as still a fairly unknown site, but we already boast an ever increasing readership. All credit must go to the actual visitors to the site and we hope that some of you may consider joining the team as active contributors. 

 You can send me a Personal Message (PM) if you are interested in contributing material in the form of blogs, articles, trip reports, image submmission etc.  You can also help by spreading news about this site with all connected to Angling.

 We will be adding many new exciting features to the site as we grow.

As you know I fished the Bloemhof Bonanza together with MZ and Yacoob, and although we did not win any prizes or catch any fish worth mentioning, what we did catch was a wake up call.

I learnt from an email that there were almost 1500 people (not all were anglers) that attended the Bloemhof Bonanza , which is why I and the fellow anglers fishing next to us agreed that there was not enough angling space to go around. The competition was held at the Sandveld side as well as the North West sides of the Dam, with some anglers arriving there from the Monday before the official start of the Competitions on Friday.  The organisers put in a lot of work to pull off this Annual event and it was appreciated, yet there are a few points that would like to raise.

I see this as positive criticism so if you start thinking otherwise while reading this posting, STOP reading and go and make a few traces for your next trip, clean out your tackle box or engage in some other angling related activity. So here are some of my positive criticisms on what I consider to be important issues;

1. The angling area was not large enough to accommodate the 1500 people that attended the event, and this resulted in many Anglers fishing under uncomfortable circumstances and being involved in altercations.  Some Anglers left after the first part of the competition as I observeved in the area I was fishing at. Perhaps the organisers should consider only selling the amount of tickets that the angling waters can accommodate. Imagine going to a Cricket where the Stadium can only accommodate 30 000 persons but there are 50 000 tickets sold. Money for the Organisers, but no value for money for the ticket holders. This is a hugely popular Competition and the numbers grow every year so this issue needs serious consideration. You cannot expect all anglers to go to the venue 3 to 4 days before the competition, because it's not practical and affordable to all.
2. It is not acceptable for the Organisers to reserve angling space for friends and guests. All competitiors paid the same prices for the tickets and deserve to take up the first spot they find acceptable. I am not talking about Anglers reserving space for buddies whose tickets they hold, but rather the fact that space was reserved at Sandveld for certain individuals and groups. This caused the pre mature decalring of Sandveld as "Full" as early as Wednesday. 
3. There were not enough offcials on duty during the Competition. We were only visited twice by an Official and he did not have any answers to even basic questions he was asked regarding the competition. One of our neighbours commented that it seemed like some officials were "pulled off the streets" to help out.  We asked the official how far the competition area on the North West Side stretched and the best he could do was to stare out over the water and say' Ek's nie seker nie". Could it be possible that an angler could have fished in an area he/she was not allowed to ? Possibly yes, if the official did not know where the exact Competition are stopped.

That all being said, I must admit that it is not an easy task to organise an event like this, but lessons should be learnt from the previous competitions and all effort should be made to improve on shortcomings. I mean are the organisers only out to make money  or are they out to make money AND give the competitors an enjoyable overall experience ?

After reading this, I would like you to share your opinion/s on what I have written, if you don't agree, tell me why or if you have any other comment to  make please do so.